Multiple-needle stitch-forming mechanism.



R.R.HUGHES,JE MULTIPLE NEEDLE STITCH FORMING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7, 1910.

Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

r II I PI u.

A TORNEY R. R. HUGHES, JR. MULTIPLE NEEDLE STITCH FORMING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7, 1910.

Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT B. HUGHES, FR", 013 NYACK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LUCIUS N. LITTAUER, PROPRIETOR OF THE METROPOLITAN "SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, OF NYACK,

NEW YOBIL MULTIPLE-NEEDLE STITCH-FORMING MECHANISM.

Specification Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25,191'3.

Application filed July 7, 1910. Serial No. 570,704.

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known that 1, ROBERT R. Ho'omzs, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing in Uyack, county of Rockland, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Multiple-Needle Stich- Forming Mechanism, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to sewing machines,

lake-up action is necessary to control the i looper threads; to provide means for guiding a plurality of threads, so as to keep them separated to revent entanglement, in combination wit-1 means for independently clumping each thread and guiding it to its looper; to provide, in. a gang-machine, a lln'eud-controlling mechanism which keeps all the threads under perfect control and directs them properly to the needles and loo ers; to provide a machine for producing 1 plurality of rows of stitches and grou ing the rows of stitches as may be desire to provide, in a gang-stitching machine, a takeup, thread-ni pers, needles and loopers all arranged in tiefront of the machine so as to be accessible to the operative; and to produce a gang-machine with sim le arrangement of parts, cheap to menu acture, light running and positive in all its movements.

With the above objects in view and others which will be detailed during the course of this description, my invention consists in the parts, features, elements and combinations of elements and mechanisms all as hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that my invention may be readily understood, I have provided drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine with the cloth-plate in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the nipper-spring plate; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the rotary take-up and thread-guide taken on the line A-A, Fig. 9; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one of the loopers and its carrier; Fig. 5 is a section on line B, Fig. 1, showing the looper rocking mechanism in two positions and showing also the nipper mechanism and part of the looper bracket; Fig. 6 is an end view of the take-up shaft and take-up; Fig. 7 is a plan view of Fig. 6, intended to show the eccentric portion of the take-up shaft; Fig. i 8 is a section of the looper driving mechanism taken on the line C and lookin in the 3 direction of the arrow of Fig. 9; an Fig. 9 l is a top plan view of the machine, the over- ;hanging aim being cut away on the line i D-D, shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the bed plate is Eindicated by 1, the driving shaft by 2, which fcarries at its outer end the usual driving Fpulley and hand-wheel 3, and also an eccentric surrounded by the strap 4 connected at its upper end to the needle-lever 5, pivoted to the machine arm at 6, the link 7 being :connected to the lever 5 at the end 8, the ineedle-bar 9 bein connected to the link 7 by the clam coll ar 10, and the needle-bar ihaving attac ed to its top a thread-guide 11 .and at its lower end a needle clamp or {holder 12. The needle bar reciprocates in :bearings 1314 as usual, and the needles are held firmly in the holder by means of screws E15. Said holder 12 is provided with means ;such as eyelets X for keeping the several Ethreads in alinement with their respective needles. Secured to the needle-lever 5 is a E guide 16 provided with a hole for each .thread and adjustably secured to the arm 17 is a guide 18 same as 16, the thumb-screw .and lock-nut 19 being for regulating the presser-spring for the presser-foot 20 as usual. Located at 21 is a 0st for guiding .the threads from the usual tensions 22 secured to the bracket 23 in any well known manner. Bracket 23 is also provided with eyelets indicated at 24. The bracket. 23 is secured to the machine frame by screws 25. Secured to the bed 1 is. a bracket 26 by screws 126"; ithe' outer" end being extended said thread from the path of the needle; that is to say, the thread is thus guided and directed to the rear eye of the looper so as to prevent the needle, in its descent, from interfering with the main run of the thread, becoming entangled therewith, or injuring the same. The looper bracket 26 is provided with vertically extending portions 38 and 39 affording journal hearings in which retates the crank-shaft 40 which will be explained hereinafter. The looper-shaft 30 extends between the journal bearings 38 and 39 and has secured to its end in any suitable manner a combined crank and fork 41, Fig. 8, having connected to it by means of a shoulder screw 42 an eccentric connection 43 driven by eccentric 44 secured to the main-shaft 2 in usual manner.

The shaft 40, Fig. 7, is )rovided with a crank or eccentric 45, a split block 46, Fig. 8, fitting freely thereon and operating within the fork 41" of the crank 41. Located on shaft 2 is a bevel-gear 47 which imparts rotar motion to bevel-gear'48 secured to the cm of shaft 40in any suitable manner. The shaft 40 is provided with a blade 49, Figs. 5 and 7, secured thereto in any well known way, which blade engages the looper threads to take up the slack therein during the formation of the stitches. Secured to the journal 39 by screws 50 is a double U-shaped bracket 51 having three vertical walls 52, 53 and 54 each provided with guide-holes 55 for guiding the looper threads separately into the path of the take-up blade 49. Lo-

cated at the end of shaft 4.0 is a. shoulder screw 56 tapped off center so as to give a crank motion to the link 57 connected to one end of the bell-crank lever 58, ivoted to the' bracket 26 by means of a shou der screw 59, a nipper-plate 60 being secured to the bellcrank lever 58 by screws'61. Said plate connects with the two arms 62 and 63 of said bell-crank lever and affords substantial means for supporting the nipper-spring plate 64, Figs. 1 and 2. Said plate is provided 'Wltll a number of yielding tongues 65 separated by slots 66 so that the yielding sections are independent to such an extent as to automatically adjust themselves to the variations, bunches, knots, etc., which may be'in the thread used. Said plate 64 is secured to the nipper-plate (30 by screws 67, passing through holes 68. Secured to the machine frame by screws (39 is an L-shaped thread-guide 70, which leads the threads directly between the nipper (3st and the wall 51 of the bracket 51. Thus, it will be seen that each thread is under perfect control at all times, and the tongues 65 will each nip a thread. Viewing Figs. 1 and 3 it will be seen that the arrangement of the threadguiding plates and nipper-springs is such that the threads pass from the tension device or devices, through the thread-guide 70 and thence through the wall 5 1 of the plate 51, the nipper-spring carried by the bellcrank lever 58 vibrating toward and from said wall to impose its grip upon the threads passing between the two. The threads passing through the wall 54 and then in turn through walls and 52 are between the latter, subjected to the action of the take-up blade 49 which, in its rotary motion, takes up the slack and allows the threads to run free alternately. The take-up action occurs while the threads are gripped by the plate 64.

The machine is provided with the usual feed mechanism consisting of an adjustable crank 71, which is part of the main shaft 2. the straps T2 connecting the crank 71 and the usual rocker-frame 73 by means of a shaft 74, the end movement being controlled by a head 75 and a set screw 76 tapped into connection 72. The rocker-frame is pivoted to the machine bed 1 by a shaft- 77 journaled in bearings 78 and 79. The end movement of said shaft 77 is controlled by binding screws 80. The rocker-frame connects to the usual feed-bar 81, the rising and falling movements of which are imparted by the usual lift eccentric operating in a fork. which is not shown as the feed mechanism forms no part of my invention. Secured to the feed-bar 81, in any well known manner, is a feed-dog S2 for feeding the work, the portions 83 of which are enlarged to give proper feeding action in rear of needles and the narrow extending portions 84 operating between pairs of needles to properly start the work and carry the same through the machine. 1

Having set forth the details of my invention the following mode of operation and cotiperation of the several parts will be readily understood: The main-shaft 2 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 1. and the connection 4 gives vibration to the needle-lever 5 pivoted at 6. The link 7 connects the end 8 of the lever 5 and the collar 10 to the needle-bar 9, vertically reciprocating the holder 12 with its needles in the fill usual manner. The feed mechanism has the usual four motions imparted thereto from the main-shaft 2 for feeding the work to and from the needles. The loopers 33 are oscillated, to cooperate with the needles, by the shaft 30 and the crank-fork 41, operated by the crank 42, the strap 43, and eccentric 44, driven by the shaft 2. The bevel-gear 47, meshing with the bevel-gear 48, rotates the shaft 40 having eccentric or crank 45, and the blocks 46 fitting freely thereon, operate within the fork 41 .giving horizontal reciprocating'motion to the shaft 30 and loopers 33, whereby said loopers pass into the-needle loops on one side of the needles and leave said loops on the opposite side thereof. The blade 49, rotated by the shaft 40, and extended between the guides 52 and 53,'takes up the slack threadfa's the loopers are leaving the needle loops so that the looper loops will be entered by the needles on the next descent of the latter. WVhile said blade 49.

is operating on the threads to take-up slack the mapper-spring tongues firmly clamp the threads against the wall 54 of the U- shaped plate so that the looper threads are under perfect control and no thread is drawn from the supply while the take-up is acting thereon. In Figsi 10 the stitch is shown, the fabric being indicated by 90 and the stitches by X. The'needle and looper are shown in process of making' the doublechain stitch with the two threads 88 and 89.

It will be readily understood that this invention is not limited in its application to the machine herein above referred to, and that the stitch mechanism can be applied to any type of machine where the space under the arm is sufficient. Furthermore, it will be understood that the invention is-not limited to any number of needles and loopers, and that multiple rows of stitches may be made as narrow or close together as the size of needle will permit, and by removing a number of intermediate needles and loopers, two or more very wide rows of stitching may be made, or by simply removing certain needles and the cooperating 1ooper-,

threads, any desired spacing or grouping of the rows of stitches may be effected. Furthermore, it will be seen that I have produced a very novel and useful machine by combining and locating the entire stitch mechanism directly in front of the machine, for the reason thatoperating with a large number of threads free access to the parts to be threaded and adjusted is of prime importance.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a multiple-needle sewing-machine,

a plurality of needles and loopers for mak-- ing rows of double-chain stitches, common means for driving the needles, two independent driving means for operating the loopers, one imparting loop-taking movements, and the other imparting needleavoiding movements, a single take-up for the looper-threads, including an elongated blade rotating between two walls having a plurality of apertures for separately guiding the looper-threads 'over the take-up blade, a single thread-grip for the looperthreads, means operating the take-up and thread-grip from the same driving member, and means whereby the rows of stitching may be made at varying distances apart.

2. In combination in a stitching mechanism of a sewing machine, a main drivingshaft, a looper-shaft parallel thereto, one or more loopers secured to said looper-shaft, a

lurality of needles cooperating with said oopers, and means for actuating the loopers comprising a combined crank and fork secured to one end of the looper-shaft, an eccentric and a bevel-gear on the drivingshaft, and connections between said eccentric and gear and the crank and fork, respectively, for imparting the necessary movements to the looper-shaft.

3. In combination in' a stitch-forming mechanism of a sewing machine, a main driving-shaft, a looper-shaft, one or more loopers secured. to said shaft, needles cooperating with said loopers, and means for actuating the loopers including a combined crank and fork secured to said looper-shaft, I

an eccentric carried by the driving-shaft, an eccentric-strap connected to the crank, a bevel-gear carried by 'the driving-shaft, a bevel'gear cooperating with the shaft gear, andan eccentric cooperating with the said fork.

4. In combination in astitch-forming mechanism of a sewing machine, a main driving-shafh a looper-shaft, a looper secured to said shaft, a needle cooperating with said looper, a combined rotary take-up and oscillating clamp for operating upon the looper-thread, and means for actuating the looper, take-up and thread-clamp, including two mechanisms, for actuating the looper, driven from the main shaft, one of which mechanisms also rotates the take-up and vibrates the thread-clamp.

5. In combination with the stitch-forming mechanism of a sewing machine, a combined take-up and tension arranged in front of the stitching position and at one side thereof, means for guiding the thread to and through the tension and into cooperation with the take-up, and means supported on the front of the looper mechanism of the stitch-forming mechanism for guiding the thread from the take-up to the looper, and

means for operating the take-up and the tension.

of the respective looper-stems' and at the rear end of the said loopers, a take-up cooperating with the guiding means, a grip also cooperating with said guidin means,

10 means for actuating the loopers rom the driving-shaft, and means for actuating the take-up and the grip driven by a part of the loo er-actuating means.

n testimony whereof I have hereunto signed'my name in thepresence of two sub- 1 scribing witnesses. I

- ROBERT R. HUGHES, JR.

Witnesses:

JOHN P. Wars,

J OHN W. KANE. 

